Poles or no poles?

Cincher

Cincher

Active member
I'm guessing that this may have already been answered, but what the hell. How useful are poles nowadays? I personally don't like poles, but that's mostly due to the fact that I ski manitoba. Tow rope is king here, and poles usually get in the way. But now that poles aren't needed for carving most of the time, what's their new purpose?
 
At my mountain, you get to the BC by traverse, so if you want to get in and out there faster/easier you need poles. Its fun to ski pow without poles, but it kind of limits you to a specific type of terrain unless you have a sled or just love getting stuck and hiking.
 
like 90% of the time poles. no hate to no poles, some people can pull it off but it doesnt feel right to me when i drop them, it can be fun but it just doesnt feel as good
 
Poles unless you're skiing park. you can grab better without

Pow is fun without, but it is so hard to do any traverse/hike runs without, and you get really stuck.
 
Let me break this shit down for you into something that you can understand.

Poles are useless for rails, yes. For jumps, not so much. For everything else, completely necessary.

Why are poles so necessary to use outside of the park, you might ask yourself.

Most people that don't use poles have the shittiest technique ever. They're back seat, throwing their arms all over the place and just plain look like shit, not to mention they can't ski for shit. Now I'm not saying that dudes like Mahre or Pep or Pollard are shit skiers but they rip a lot harder with poles than without.

Poles help you to stay putting pressure on the front of your boots which in return helps you to ski better. Do you think skiers would still use poles if they where useless? Everyone can talk shit about how gay racing is but you know what, a good majority of those kids have better technique than any of you because they use poles.
 
its not whether or not which is better

its up to you

poles just make it easier to move simple distances from rest

IE. getting on and off lifts

but without them it normally makes people in the park look smoother with their tricks
 
Ok. I got ya. thanks. Again, I know this has been answered and blah blah blah you think I'm an idiot. Whatever. I do agree with you. those kids do ski better with poles than I would without. I'll use my poles more when I escape the praries and move out west.
 
oooooo tecnique!!!! fuck it i dont care if i have the proper stance and technique, i havent touched poles in more than 2 years and i ride powder and backcountry all the time, yes traversing is a little harder (still a shit ton easer than snowboarding) but its not the traversing and hiking that im worried about, its the skiing, if i have to put in a tiny bit more effort to have alot more fun skiing then its worth it.

you dont NEED poles to keep pressure forward, just keep your arms out in front of you like you do have poles and you can initiate turns just as well by using your arms.

there is a noticeable difference between riding with poles and without poles in powder, without poles you tend to do bigger arch's and ski in more of a surfey/snowboarder way, with poles you can make quicker back to back turns.

 
i feel that... but for me, it's all about variety.

you get tired of chipotle pretty fast, but throw some Qz or subway in there and you are set.

 
there is not a chipotle within i don't know how many hundred miles of where i live, so i definitely do NOT get tired of it.

but i did eat some quizno's recently and it was pretty dank
 
i go with and with out. personally poles are just there to:

1. look good/style

2. for your hands to do something/grip the pole

3. just because
 
i really dont like to tell people this but you should really just searchbar this one.... i see a new pole thread everyweek. but yeah it doesnt really matter what you use just make sure it feels right and doesnt make you look bad.
 
holy crap, this debate is older than Mike Douglas. The bottom line is that both are totally fine and based completely on personal preference and riding style. For me personally, I'm about 50/50. Poles and no poles, to me, are two completely different skiing experiences that are both really fun. Therefore, I switch off based on how I'm feeling. If I've been riding with poles a bunch and am feeling kind of bored, I often drop the poles and ski without them to change things up a bit. Then, when that gets boring, I switch back. Both have their pros and cons but skiing is skiing, so just let it be and ride any way you like.
 
this thread just happened?

1239448693no_poles.JPG
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top